Michael Vick canceled an appearance on a radio talk show, his lawyers tell him they are worried someone will take his statements out of context. No, really?! They would not do that, would they? Of course there is something else to criticize on the issue. According to one news article, shortly after his guilty plea in a plea bargain (which the judge says he doesn't have to honor), he said he takes full responsibility. Huh? If he takes full responsibility, why the plea bargain? Why not just own up to everything he has done, in front of the judge, and take the sentence handed down? Then there is the standard religious statement....

"Through this situation I've found Jesus," he added. He vowed to redeem himself, saying, "I have to."

Is it another dot-com bust? Earthlink fires half its employees after restructuring. 900 employees will be shown the door due to a restructuring plan. They are supposed to be the second largest Internet service provider in the country. Did someone at the company wise up and realize that once you have the hardware in place the stuff runs itself? At Google the CFO is planning to retire. There have been expressions of apprehension concerning his work there. Still, he will take with him millions I'm sure, it's the American way. Then there is General Mills. They have cut 581 jobs after closing two plants. That is more than half the employees at Earthlink, but I'd be willing to bet General Mills employs a tiny bit more than Earthlink. Of course, the people that got the ax should have seen it coming, they work in plants that GM Foods acquired from Pillsbury.

Things are tight all over, but the shareholders demand their cut, regardless of the consequences. I was thinking about this the other day. The company I work for is owned by most of the doctors that work there. They are radiologists that farm their reading services out, and have facilities that will do outpatient studies all over town. Because the big insurance companies are restructuring the way they pay for exams, the company's profits will take a hit. Of course, the company has been trying to implement cost savings everywhere, but after years of living high on the hog, the employees of course do not want to change. That is what it will take, employees should make an effort to save the company money if it is going to work. They have a policy of holiday pay of course, but they also decided to let employees take the following day off if the holiday falls on a Sunday. This way they get more holidays, and the people that have to work the holidays get holiday pay for those that fall on Sundays plus double time, as well as the same thing for the following Monday. They have started cutting back on this. Anyway, insurance companies can dictate how companies like the one I work for charge for their services, as long as they are paying for them. The way it used to be, if a doctor ordered a cat scan on a patient, and he wanted the neck scanned as well, the company would charge for two scans. Same thing with a chest and abdomen. However, insurance companies have brought the hammer down, and said they will refuse to pay full price for these procedures, because they know that studies that include adjacent regions of the body do not cost as much to do. They are only going to pay 75% for the second study if it is done in conjunction with a previous study of an adjacent region of the body. Makes sense to me.

However, the doctors see their profits decreasing. You can bet your sweet ass they will not be taking any cuts in their compensation. They are like fucking kids when mom moves the cookie jar out of reach. They will connive to get at the cookies, but it make take a little more effort. Even if it takes standing on little brother's head to get at them, as long as they get theirs they don't care who gets bruised. I find it all very interesting. What's even more interesting is the number of doctors that grumble about the work they do. They bitch amongst themselves, bicker would be a better word, about who is going to do the work, take the off shifts like weekends and nights, and even comment on who is taking the long lunches and moving slow when dictating their reports.

I have started clinicals for xray school. Actually, it's radiologic technologist school, or some like to say radiographer's school. I work in the xray department at one of the hospitals in town now. I can't really say I work, because there isn't much to do other than watch the techs when they are working when you don't really know what to do. You watch and hope they throw you a bone and let you push some buttons.

Speaking of school, time to study, have a test today.....